Minneapolis: 1500-plus march against Supreme Court attack on Roe v. Wade
Minneapolis, MN – More than 1500 students and community members took to the streets, May 4, in response to the leaked draft opinion from the Supreme Court indicating their intention to overturn Roe v. Wade, effectively stripping hundreds of millions of Americans from their reproductive rights. The large crowd gathered outside the Humphrey School of Public Affairs on the University of Minnesota campus before marching to U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s offices to demand that she take action to defend the abortion rights of her constituents. During the march, many cars passing by honked in approval and solidarity with the protest.
Roe v. Wade was a landmark Supreme Court decision that has protected the right to an abortion for countless Americans for decades and has long been a target of the Republican Party, with the backing of reactionaries and elements of the ruling class, for just as long.
The Supreme Court’s likely overturning of Roe v. Wade is the result of a decades-long project from hardline conservatives to undo the progress won by the hard fighting of countless activists in social movements. It furthers the right’s attempts to subjugate of women, cis and trans, and non-binary people in the United States.
The protest was organized by University of Minnesota Students for a Democratic Society and had the support of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee, Twin Cities Coalition 4 Justice 4 Jamar, many feminist and abortion rights groups, and the Minneapolis community at large.
“We’re here because our autonomy is at stake, our safety is at stake, and because we cannot be free in this country if we do not have the basic right to terminate a pregnancy,” said Olivia Crull, an organizer with UMN SDS and Freedom Road Socialist Organization.
SDS organizers have been battling anti-abortion policies for some time – in January of this year, Florida chapters of SDS from North Florida University, Florida State University, and the University of South Florida fought against the incredibly restrictive and repressive “heartbeat bill” proposed by the Florida government.
Other SDS chapters throughout the country have fought against anti-abortion laws and the recent decision from the Supreme Court. Chapters in Texas, Wisconsin, Colorado, Florida and elsewhere have organized actions and protests similar to what was seen in Minneapolis on May 4.
The turnout and enthusiasm from the 1500 people gathered in Minneapolis to defend the rights of women and people with uteri is indicative of the people’s demands to be free of impositions by the reactionary ruling class. As Ana Vasquez, organizer and union member, put it, “We in Minnesota do not give up!”